


Chessboard Heart

by Alternatewarning



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Female Pronouns for Narukami Arashi, Fluff, Makoto/Izumi is unrequited, Mentions of non-consensual things, Narukami/Izumi isn't romantic yet, Rating it just to be safe, When the mood strikes me, mentions of eating disorders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-02 22:32:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12735621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alternatewarning/pseuds/Alternatewarning
Summary: No matter what happened, the Queen would always be there for her favorite Knight.Just a series of drabbles focusing on Narukami and Izumi's relationship.





	1. Black Eyed Beautiful - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of drabbles focusing on Narukami and Izumi, not all necessary canon to each other. If they are, I'll indicate it in the notes. Some will be romantic, some will just be friends. Please note I have not actually played Ensemble Stars, I only watched the stageplay and read fanfiction so please be kind.

It had been six months. Six months since graduation, since one last hurrah before the Knights finally ceased to stand together as one. Izumi Sena pretended he didn't care. He never wanted to be an idol in the first place. He pretended that the small little white chess piece on his keyring was just a happenstance. Naru-kun got them, he would say. And he's too annoying to deal with if I took it off.

But Izumi was very good at playing pretend. He pretended that stepping back into the world of models was as easy as he thought it would be. It was nothing for a natural beauty like him. Even as an adult, he had the lithe body and beautiful face to grace the cover of magazines aimed at blushing young girls and flushing young women. His strict diet gave him the perfect figure even now. And so it was simple--it was the same as when he was younger. Or so he pretended.

His graceful re-entrance into the world of modeling was not the freedom he hoped for. Everything was different now. Photographer's eyes had a dark glint, a light touch against his back or tight that was completely unnecessary. Agents touched his shoulders just a little too hard. It wasn't long before his pretend world started to fold in on itself. It wasn't long before his icy eyes had dimmeed to a stormy blue.

A look here, a touch there, and soon enough he'd forgotten what it felt like to be confident. Six months. In six months he had lost over ten pounds; food just turned his stomach now. He wondered when the last time he'd eaten a full meal had been but it didn't matter. Another sip of water would ease his stomach pains--it had too. Get that fat a-- over here. The words rang in his head every night. Another feather light touch turned into more and more until he was gracing the covers of maginzines as the sun rose and curling up in unfamiliar sheets as it set.

"Megane-kun's unit is playing tonight, you should come <3" Naru-kun's number danced across the screen with the message as Izumi clung to the porcelain toilet, another fancy dinner down the drain before it did any damage to his figure. By now it was normal, but his throat still burned, making him wonder if it was worth it. Was anything worth it? He reached out and grabbed his phone, still too weak to move from his cradle between the wall and the toilet.

"Tell Yuu-kun to stay an idol. For me. Can't make it." He let the phone fall to the ground once he pushed send. He couldn't let Yuu-kun see him like this: shallow cheeks and red eyes. There were bruises forming on his hips; he'd need to make sure to use concealer on those tomorrow. His phone buzzed again but Izumi ignored it, instead rinsing out his mouth with water before half dragging himself to bed. He could hear the phone from here, vibrating on the white tile floor. Everything was starting to spin.

"Yuu-kun...don't be a model. Stay away from it. You're too beautiful to be broken." His voice was quiet and soft, like a melting summer snow.


	2. Venus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makeup can hide anything - except from the eyes of one Sena Izumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I work on Part 2 of Black Eyed Beautiful have an Arashi-centric drabble. Note, Arashi uses female pronouns for herself but everyone else would refer to her as male.

"It's been over twenty minutes. Come out or I'm going to break this door open, Naru-kun, I'm tired of waiting." For a moment Arashi was going to continue to ignore him but then she thought better of it. Of all people in this school it was entirely possible that Izumi really would attempt to break open the door just because he was tired of waiting. They were supposed to go out to dinner together nearly half an hour ago but she still didn't look as put-together as she wanted. The bathroom door shook again as her companion rattled the handle.

"Oh just hold on. I'm almost done~ If we're going out to dinner I have to look my best, you know that." She tried to sound cheery as she turned back to the mirror. She'd managed enough concealer to make it look like a bad morning instead of a few hours of crying so that was at least an improvement. With an unnecessary flourish, she picked up her eyeliner from her kit when the door rattled and suddenly popped open. He really did break the door open...

"Why are you so annoying? How about you just tell me what's wrong?" The bathroom for one was now a little cramped between Arashi and her makeup all over the sink, plus the boy now standing just inside the door. His arms were crossed and his head tilted just enough to the side that he was looking down at her through ice blue eyes. Most people would think he was being standoffish and annoyed. His eyes said that he was worried.

"Oh honey, I don't think you want people to see us sharing a bathroom. They might get the wrong idea about us~" She smiled at him before giving him a small pat on the head. Izumi opened his mouth but closed it, holding his tongue for a moment. Not something he was really known for.

"Just tell me what it is and stop wasting my time." His words were more biting than his tone. While what he said carried venom and ice, it was clear that even though the snobbish glare he was worried. There was no bite on the end of his words, it was almost kind. Which was not a shade of her friend that she normally got to see. No one did.

"Fine, but I was serious about the bathroom. Let me finish, I'm not even close to prest-ahg!" Suddenly there was a hand on her wrist tugging her out of the bathroom. She pulled back, just enough to collect her makeup supplies. Izumi let her, relenting his grasp as she did so. He still looked annoyed but that seemed to be his natural face as of recently. Once her eyeliner was capped and put away, she made sure she had her concealer and everything else was back in her bag, his cold grip returned like iron clamping around her wrist and tugging her with no regard for whether or not she wanted to go.

He didn't stop pulling until they reached the practice room. She could call it "the" practice room since technically it was open to all students but ever since Izumi took over the Knights he'd essentially claimed it as theirs. Everyone knew better than to stand up to him on that. At this time of night everyone was exhausted so the room was empty, leaving them alone although surrounded by mirrors. She still hadn't done her eyeliner but she really didn't want the silver-haired cat of a friend to start throwing things.

"It's really not-" She barely started before she was cut off.  
"Let's skip the back and forth of 'it's nothing' and just move on with it. I'd like to get to dinner before midnight." It made sense that Izumi didn't have that many friends. Even when he was being nice it sounded rude. Still, despite his complaints he sat down, wrapping his arms around his bent knees and looking up at her. She spoiled him too much.

"Fine." Arashi sat down next to him, staring at a small stain on the floor from Ritsu falling asleep with coffee. "I was just out-of-sorts. Some people said...some comments today that were upsetting. That's all. And I know I have to look perfect when I go out with you, you're as vain as I am~" She tried to play it off but the cold eyes were still watching her with a frown.

"What did they say?" It was times like this that she missed Leo the most. He would always go off on tangents and he wasn't nearly as observant as the eagle-eyed Izumi. She sighed, tracing the coffee stain with a manicured nail.

"I was out shopping. They were just laughing, really. At me." She let her voice trail off but then they rested in an uneasy silence. He was planning to wait her out. Jerk.

"Fine, you don't need to be so passive aggressive about it. They were laughing at me because I was shopping for...women's clothes." Arashi turned away from the coffee stain and let her eyes wander away. She didn't want to see his caring expression turn into one of scorn.

"That's all?" She took in a breath but then he continued as if to clarify himself. "That's why they were laughing? They were probably jealous. I mean, you're so beautiful that you can pull off just about anything. And you know how to pick out clothes that fit your style. They probably were upset that you looked better in women's clothes then they could in anything tailored to them. If you can't beat them, laugh at them." Izumi shrugged like it was no big deal as he finally broke his eyes away from her.

Arashi just turned and stared at him, pinching herself to make sure she was awake. The impromptu leader was just looking in the mirror and fixing his hair that had been flattened earlier. He didn't look upset, surprised, or even bothered. Just himself. It was moments like this that made putting up with his cantankerous attitude completely worth it.

"Izumi-chan~ You're the best!" Before he could get away she wrapped her arms around him, smothering him against her chest. He groaned at her but made no attempt to escape. Maybe he knew she needed this as much as she needed him to say that.

"Next time I'll scare them off. No one messed with my Naru-kun but me." His voice was so quiet she wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear that. Either way, it seemed to release her heart from the heaviness of earlier and she just hugged him tighter. His Naru-kun.


End file.
